Indians Prospect Insider

Carlos Carrasco and Luigi Rodriguez celebrated Cinco de Mayo in style on Sunday, with two outstanding performances. Carrasco put all the injury worries to rest with six innings of one run ball. He's now struck out 24 in 23 2/3 innings. Luigi Rodriguez continued to own the Carolina League with his third straight multi-hit game. Join Carlos, Luigi and Jim Pete for Sunday Night's ATF fiesta.

The Lake County Captains’ offense generated some buzz on Sunday as they defeated the Burlington Bees 7-3 with a five-run ninth inning rally. Luis DeJesus (0-2, 6.30) received the start for the Captains to counter Burlington lefty Brandon Love (1-2, 5.18).

Behind a strong effort by Minnesota starter Mike Pelfrey, the Twins snapped the Cleveland Indians’ six-game winning streak Sunday afternoon, beating the Tribe 4-1. With the loss, the Indians fall back to .500 on the season and now trail the Detroit Tigers by four games in the AL Central division.

The Carolina Mudcats battled through the dreary Carolina mist, but couldn’t avoid the series sweep, falling 6-5 to the Frederick Keys.
Left-handed pitcher Shawn Morimando (1-4) started the game for the Mudcats but did not fare well. Morimando walked six batters over four innings, giving up two hits and two runs.

The Columbus Clippers squeaked past the Rochester Red Wings 3-2 to split the four-game series at a two games apiece. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco cranked out a wonderful performance for his first win of the season. The Venezuelan-native tossed six frames, allowing one run on four hits and fanned seven batters without issuing a walk.

Jim and Steve return to the cyber airwaves tonight with the latest edition of CSI: Cleveland Sports Insiders. There will be plenty of Indians talk tonight as the team has been scorching hot as of late, and the guys will also look look at potential draft targets for the Cavaliers. Plus, what about the Browns, and the team's chances of contending next year? Jim and Steve will discuss all of this tonight beginning at 9 p.m.

The Carolina Mudcats don't look all that good on paper, but Francisco Lindor makes it all better in the land of Carolina. Lindor has exploded offensively, and while there are some that says he still needs seasoning, the #1 prospect is making a case to be moved now. Join Jim Pete with his weekly Carolina Mudcats notebook, as he takes a close look at Lindor, and the rest of the Mudcats week.

What could right fielder Carlos Moncrief possibly do on Sunday to surpass his walk-off single Saturday night? How about a mammoth go-ahead home run off of a consensus top-25 prospect? The Akron Aeros defeated the Bowie Baysox 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Canal Park, winning the series and moving to .500 for the first time all year. Defense and pitching ruled for most of the day until Moncrief made it all his.

The Cleveland Indians have placed a stronger focus in recent years to draft more athletes that can play in the middle of the diamond. One such example of this is the selection of outfielder D’Vone McClure in the 4th round of last year’s draft. At 19-years of age and 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, he has the body, size, and athleticism that make scouts drool over his potential. McClure is in the process of molding all of that potential and Tony recently caught up with him in Arizona.

The Lake County Captains fell to the Burlington Bees by a final of 4-1 on Saturday Night. Burlington scored three runs in the seventh inning highlighted by a RBI single by Pedro Toribio. The three run spread proved to be the difference in the loss.

Akron Aeros right fielder Carlos Moncrief stroked a game-winning, RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday night, to give the Aeros a thrilling, 4-3 victory over the Bowie Baysox at Canal Park.

The Cleveland Indians are heating up, both at the plate and on the mound. That was showcased last night as Scott Kazmir and the bullpen held the Minnesota Twins to three runs, while the offense put seven on the board. It's only May, but the Indians certainly look like a team that others will have to contend with. Join Jim "The Berd Man" Berdysz as he gives his Second Thoughts on Saturday Night's game.

The Indians big league club is plugging right along with a six-game win streak, but the organizational affiliates ran into a buzz saw on Saturday, as all lost except for Akron, who won on a walk-off single. The stars of Saturday night's ATF are perhaps the two players with the best raw tools in the entire system. They are raw tools, but when everything clicks, these two kids can be special. Join Jim Pete with the latest edition of ATF.

The Rochester Red Wings must not have been informed that the Triple-A Homerun Derby is more than two months away. Powered by five longballs, the Red Wings cruised past the Columbus Clippers Saturday with an 8-2 victory.

A back and forth contest got out of hand late, as the Carolina Mudcats lost to the Frederick Keys 7-4 on Saturday night. The loss was the Mudcats third straight and their seventh out of their last ten, which dropped their record to 11-18 on the season.

Second baseman Jason Kipnis had three hits, falling just a double short of the cycle, and Scott Kazmir won his first major league game in 958 days as the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 7-3. The win was the Indians' sixth in a row, and it was their eighth win out of their past 11 games.

Welcome to "Trend Spotting", a weekly column here at the IBI from Michael Hattery which will look at current Indians performances and some of the peripheral statistics in order to see if they can provide any insight into whether good or bad performances are likely to continue. In today's first edition of the season, Michael takes a look at the hot start of Carlos Santana and cold start of Lonnie Chisenhall and if either performance is sustainable and if a drop or increase in performance is coming.

The Cleveland Indians continued their winning ways with another big win in their series opener against the Minnesota Twins. Justin Masterson scuffled through 6 2/3, but Drew Stubbs and Mark Reynolds picked up the slack with big-time performances in the Indians victory. Join IBI contributor Jake Dungan with his Second Thoughts on the Tribe's Friday Night victory.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!